Hunter Thoroughbred Breeders Association has called on the NSW Government not to renew Bickham Coal Company’s Exploration Licences and to extend the SEPP over the Bickham site to include underground mining.

In May 2010, after 10 years of concern, stress and investment uncertainty, the Bickham Coal Company’s plans for open cut coal mining in the Upper Hunter Valley were rejected on the recommendations of an independent Planning Assessment Commission.

The Independent Planning Assessment Commission (PAC) recommended that the Bickham Coal Project not proceed to Part 3A merit assessment due to water related risks and strong evidence from non-water related issues that the Bickham proposal “has had and would continue to have, significant adverse effects on other industries and investments that would outweigh any advantages in proceeding to Merit Assessment under Part 3A”.

The water related risks to the already stressed Pages River and Kingdon Ponds were too high.

The PAC was highly critical of the proposed mine’s impacts relating to groundwater risks (including hydrological investigations and modelling, lowering of the water table, leakage from Pages River to the Pit, and that the already stressed water systems would take over 100 years to recover post mining) and the surface water risks.

The non-water risks to the community’s health, the future of the multi-billion dollar thoroughbred breeding industry, employment impacts, community consultation, deferred investments and access to emergency services were also significant.

It is our view that many of the water findings and concerns made by the PAC in 2010 will apply to underground mining.

Our concerns are heightened by the fact that, unlike open cut, underground mining operates in a “sight unseen” environment where water impacts are dealt with after they occur.

This is too high a risk to take.

The Bickham Coal Company’s announcement that it plans to explore underground mining at the Bickham site has reignited community angst, regenerated concerns about our water systems and destabilized investment confidence.

The Bickham Coal Company’s Exploration Licences (EL 5888 and EL 5306) expire on 27 May 2012.

The NSW Government has the expert evidence before it to make a prompt decision that will signal support for our multi-billion dollar world class industry and restore community and investment confidence.